Be like a duck

A farmer guides his flock of ducks back to their shelter after a day at the rice field in Pikit, North Cotabato. Apart from being the source of balut (fertilized duck eggs), ducks serve as pest control, weeders, stimulant, and fertilizer in rice paddies, their paddling movements, the shaking effects of their bodies when bumping the rice plants during swimming, and the beak touching the stem during feeding provide stimulation to the rice, thereby producing healthy and abundant rice tillers. (Keith Bacongco)